Portal:The Gambia

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The Gambia Portal

The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for the western part which is on the Atlantic Ocean. It is on both sides of the lower reaches of the Gambia River, which flows through the centre of the country and empties into the Atlantic. The national namesake river demarcates the elongated shape of the country, which has an area of 11,300 square kilometres (4,400 sq mi) and a population of 2,468,569 people in 2024. The capital city is Banjul, which has the most extensive metropolitan area in the country; the second- and third-largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama.

Arab Muslim merchants traded with native West Africans in The Gambia throughout the 9th and 10th centuries. In 1455, the Portuguese were the first Europeans to enter The Gambia, although they never established significant trade there. The region was made a part of the British Empire by establishment of a colony in 1765, and exactly 200 years later, in 1965, The Gambia gained independence under the leadership of Dawda Jawara. Jawara ruled until Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless 1994 coup, with Jammeh ruling until 2017. Adama Barrow became The Gambia's third president in January 2017, after defeating Jammeh in the December 2016 elections. Jammeh initially accepted the results, but then refused to leave office, triggering a constitutional crisis and military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States that resulted in his removal two days after his term was initially scheduled to end.

The Gambia has been a member of the Economic Community of West African States since its conception in 1975 and is a member of the Commonwealth, with English being the country's sole official language, both legacies of its British colonial past. The Gambia's economy is dominated by farming, fishing, and especially tourism. In 2015, 48.6% of the population lived in poverty. In rural areas, poverty was even more widespread, at almost 70%. (Full article...)

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Core and peripheral Fula-speaking regions. Note that most of these areas, with the exceptions of Senegal and Guinea, are not primarily Fula-speaking, as this map only shows the absolute numbers of speakers.

Fula (/ˈfuːlə/ FOO-lə), also known as Fulani (/fʊˈlɑːniː/ fuul-AH-nee) or Fulah (Fulfulde, Pulaar, Pular; Adlam: 𞤊𞤵𞤤𞤬𞤵𞤤𞤣𞤫, 𞤆𞤵𞤤𞤢𞥄𞤪, 𞤆𞤵𞤤𞤢𞤪; Ajami: ࢻُلْࢻُلْدٜ‎, ݒُلَارْ‎, بُۛلَر‎‎), is a Senegambian language spoken by around 36.8 million people as a set of various dialects in a continuum that stretches across some 18 countries in West and Central Africa. Along with other related languages such as Serer and Wolof, it belongs to the Atlantic geographic group within Niger–Congo, and more specifically to the Senegambian branch. Unlike most Niger-Congo languages, Fula does not have tones.

It is spoken as a first language by the Fula people ("Fulani", Fula: Fulɓe) from the Senegambia region and Guinea to Cameroon, Nigeria, and Sudan and by related groups such as the Toucouleur people in the Senegal River Valley. It is also spoken as a second language by various peoples in the region, such as the Kirdi of northern Cameroon and northeastern Nigeria. (Full article...)

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Image 1Fish being smoked in Tanji
Image 2A Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in the Abuko Nature Reserve in The Gambia
Image 3Life in Serekunda
Image 4Gambian postage stamps from 1953
Image 5Banjul International Airport

Image 5Banjul International Airport
Image 6Front and back view of the Gambian dalasi and coins from 5 bututs to 1 dalasi
Image 7A donkey cart at a beach in The Gambia
Image 8Gunjur is a small coastal town in south-western Gambia.
Image 9A view of Janjanbureh, Gambia
Image 10Traders at a fish market on the Gambian coast
Image 11Arch 22 in the Gambian capital city of Banjul

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... that the Bateleur (pictured) is the official symbol of Kiang West National Park in The Gambia?

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A Gambia Regiment patrol during the Third Arakan Campaign, January 1945.

The Gambia Regiment was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces regiment raised in the Gambia Colony and Protectorate that existed between 1901 and 1958. Known as the Gambia Company from 1901 to 1939 and from 1945 to 1950, its strength fluctuated from peacetime and wartime, peaking at two battalions during World War II. The unit saw active service in both world wars, participating in the Kamerun and East African campaigns during World War I and in the Burma campaign during World War II. It was organisationally part of the larger Royal West African Frontier Force, and was part of the 81st (West Africa) Division in World War II. (Full article...)

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Gambia women's national football team Gilbert Thomas Carter Alexander Grant (British Army officer) The Gambia at the 2000 Summer Olympics The Gambia at the 2008 Summer Olympics The Gambia at the 2012 Summer Olympics The Gambia at the 2016 Summer Olympics The Gambia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics